Trial for man charged in fatal car accident begins
A Fairchance man went to trial on Monday for allegedly causing the death of an elderly motorist in a 2001 two-vehicle accident. Jeffrey Leadbeater, 32, of 9 Delvereese St. is charged with accidents involving death while not properly licensed and homicide by vehicle for allegedly causing the death of Joseph J. Louie on May 19, 2001.
The accident occurred along Walnut Hill Road around 1 p.m.
State police Cpl. Joseph D’Andrea, an accident reconstructionist, testified that evidence at the scene indicates that Leadbeater crossed over the double yellow line and hit Louie’s vehicle.
D’Andrea testified that a gauge mark on the road that came from Louie’s Oldsmobile Cutlass is evidence that Leadbeater crossed into his lane of travel and hit him. Leadbeater was driving a 1992 GMC Safari. Because Leadbeater’s car was higher, D’Andrea testified his vehicle pushed down on Louie’s, causing the gauge mark.
D’Andrea was called out to the accident scene on May 31, he testified, four days after Louie, 77, died in a Pittsburgh hospital.
His grandson, Charles Louie was in the car at the time of the accident and testified that the accident happened so quickly that there was little time to react.
“My grandfather was 77-years-old. He can’t react the way a teenager can react,” Louie told Leadbeater’s attorney, Public Defender Jeffrey Whiteko.
Louie testified that Leadbeater was driving fast, and the accident, “happened so quick nobody could say anything or do anything.”
Under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Mark Mehalov, Louie testified that he was knocked unconscious after the accident. When he came to, he testified he went to get help.
His grandfather, testified Louie, “was helpless” and bleeding from the nose, ear and mouth.
Medical and fire personnel had to forcibly open the car door to remove Louie, according to testimony.
Trooper Juan J. Curry, who went to the accident scene on May 27, testified that he took measurements of various marks on the roadway. Although Curry was not at the initial crash, he testified that the trooper who was pointed out where the markings were.
Curry also testified that he got a copy of Leadbeater’s driving record from the state Department of Transportation. The record indicates that Leadbeater was driving with a suspended license.
While prosecutors are claiming that there is enough evidence that Leadbeater was negligent to bring criminal charges, Whiteko told jurors in his opening statement that Louie’s death was an accident.
“Unfortunately, someone died. But in each criminal case, there has to be some intent,” said Whiteko, noting he felt that there was none.
He also told jurors that the defense contends that the accident was Louie’s fault because he drove into Leadbeater’s lane of travel.
Leadbeater chose to take the case to trial after initially pleading guilty to the offenses in August 2002. He pleaded guilty generally, meaning that it was up to a judge to hand down his sentence. However, Leadbeater ultimately withdrew that plea.